Hi! I never thought I, someone who had zero interest in even the “s” of plastic surgery, would end up leaving a review here.. lol Still, I got so much help from this community while looking into clinics and trying to pull my collapsed mental state back together, so I’m going to leave a review of my early removal and share my progress too. Early removal is something a lot of people discourage, and there aren’t many reviews, so I struggled too,, Even if not right now, someone may consider early removal later, so I’m posting this in hopes it helps.
1. First, why did I decide on early removal? - I got rhinoplasty way too impulsively. I had always thought my nose was a bit lacking on my face, but as I reached my mid-20s, I became interested in procedures, and then I became interested in rhinoplasty too. I only watched rhinoplasty reviews on Instagram Reels and made a consultation appointment really impulsively, and at that time it was like I was possessed by something, with this strong thought that I had to do it right away! So I ended up booking surgery for 3 days after the consultation lol. I was crazy. Since I had no plastic surgery information at all, I didn’t really know about this community either, and I thought the famous Naver plastic surgery cafes were everything. I got properly hooked by a broker haha. Thinking back, early January is peak season for plastic surgery clinics, so there’s no way a clinic that could offer a same-day consultation booking and surgery 3 days later was trustworthy.. Since I live alone, I was doing it without my parents knowing, so I didn’t have my parents to ask for advice either. I think that made me even less able to judge rationally. And when my friends tried to stop me, I had the truly ridiculous, insane thought, “Are they doing this because they’re jealous I’ll get prettier?” According to my friend at the time, I seemed like I was possessed.. They said they gave up because it seemed like I wouldn’t listen even if they tried to stop me. After that, I took off the splint, and my face looked so different from what I had imagined. (The doctor even said it was amazing because I really don’t swell much, and said it wouldn’t change drastically from there, so I don’t think it was swelling dysmorphia.) The foreign-body sensation was severe, and even though there was no implant, the fact that something had been manipulated in my nose itself made me so depressed. But I think this was probably because I grew up constantly hearing from my parents that natural is best and that I should never touch my eyes, nose, or mouth. Even normally, I thought that although my nose wasn’t pretty, my face was well balanced, and the beauty I pursue is naturalness. I’m not saying plastic surgery should be unconditionally discouraged. There are definitely faces that suit a high and glamorous nose. And after surgery, when I looked things up, I learned that even the surgery I thought was simple (tying the nasal tip cartilage and placing cartilage on top) has many people looking into revision surgery years later because of things like nasal tip drooping due to gravity. I don’t want to look at my face every day wondering, “Did my nasal tip droop?” and above all, getting back on the operating table was not an option for me. Because they weren’t touching the nasal bridge and were only manipulating the nasal tip, I thought there would be no side effects like contracture and that it would last for life. I was just stupid haha. Anyway, for all these reasons! I decided on early removal.
2. The surgery I had - Nasal tip cartilage tying (cartilage was grafted over it to tie it firmly), septal strut
3. Choosing a clinic - I really couldn’t trust the doctor at the clinic where I had my first surgery. (When I looked it up belatedly, it seemed like he had less than 10 years of experience, and during the consultation the consultant said he would be going to the U.S. or somewhere for training a few months later, so I felt like there would be no one to take responsibility if the removal went wrong. During my first surgery, there was no preoperative consultation; only after I was lying on the operating table with all four limbs strapped down did the doctor come in, quickly sketch a design on my face in 30 seconds, and immediately start the surgery,, After coming to my senses and thinking about it, it was just a total mess.) Since it’s the face I’ll live with for the rest of my life, I felt going back to the first-surgery clinic just to save money would be pointless, so even though it was much more expensive, I decided to go to a clinic famous for removal. I urgently made phone calls and went for consultations at two of the clinics mentioned here as the top three for removal, plus one other clinic famous for removal. The reason I chose this clinic was that the consultant was extremely kind and seemed very knowledgeable about surgery, so I trusted them more. Also, when I searched in this community, it had the fewest bad reviews + I saw someone who said they had early removal there. I don’t want to reveal the clinic name because I might be suspected of being a broker. Among the places mentioned as the top three, it’s the clinic where reviews in this community often say the director is a “yes man”! I think you can find it right away if you search carefully, but if you really can’t find it and you’re seriously considering removal, I’ll only share the info in a private comment
4. Surgery review I’m not a nurse or a doctor, so I’m clueless about the textbook surgical procedure, but at least it was definitely on a completely different level from my first-surgery clinic. Before surgery, they covered my whole body with sterile drapes (those teal cloths), and they disinfected everything thoroughly enough that it really contrasted with my first-surgery clinic. Also, instead of putting me completely under, they used light sedation, so I could somewhat tell what was being done to my nose in between + I could tell the director was operating from start to finish >> I think that was good. The operating room nurses were also kind and systematic, and the director performed the surgery very calmly. It felt like it didn’t take long, and from lying down on the operating table to walking out of the clinic, it took exactly two hours! And I liked that they took photos of all the intermediate steps during surgery and showed me all of them before I left the clinic. They said I wouldn’t swell much, but everything is still taped up so I don’t really know the shape yet. Since they said the surgery went well, I think maybe I’ll be able to return a lot to my original nose! (my hope) If I could go back, I absolutely x 10000000 would not get nose surgery in the first place, but after taking off the splint, I quickly decided, “I can’t live with this nose,” and quickly went around for consultations, and I absolutely don’t regret that.. I’m trying to think of it as a 7-million-won lesson that if I get appearance dysmorphia, 1. check my period app to see whether it’s premenstrual swelling, and 2. go to a gym or a psychiatrist, not a plastic surgery clinic haha; After removal, strangely enough, the sharp tingling pain that used to hit my nose whenever I stepped even a little hard disappeared + I can move my philtrum well right away and smile comfortably, which is so fascinating. I didn’t even live with a fake nose for 2 weeks, but the sense of liberation that there’s nothing in my nose is incredibly huge.. For a week, I couldn’t even eat because of self-blame and couldn’t go about daily life, but now my mind is so at ease,, and I’m so glad I no longer have to search this community all night.